Backless strapless bra



Oct. 7, 1947. M. LoBEL BACKLESS STRAPLESS `BRA Filed Sept. 28, 1945 INVENTOR MAURICE I .oSr-:L

. ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 7, 1,947

UNITED STATES OFFICE 2,428,572,v f BACKLEss s'rRAPLnss .BRA Maurice Lobel, San Francisco, Calif. Application September 28, 1945, 4Serial No. 619,188

1 Claim. l

An object of my invention is to provide a backless, strapless bra, which, when worn, will expose the back, shoulders, chest and midriif to the suns rays so that an evensuntan on these portions of the body can be realized. In the usual bra, back straps and shoulder straps are necessary. If these straps are not removed during the exposure of the body to the sun, strap marks are formed on the body. Women bathers have tried to circumvent this by removing the shoulder straps and holding the bra in place by means of their hands. Of course, even when this is done, the back strap cannot be removed.

In my invention, I provide a yielding arcuateshaped band that encircles the front and sides of the wearers body at a point directly under the breasts and the ends of the band terminate at places substantially under the shoulder blades of the wearer. This exposes the entire back of the body to the rays of the sun and does away with with the necessity of providing a back strap.

The bra is supported by the yielding band that engages with the body with suiiicient force to hold the bra securely and rmly in place. If desired the bra may have additional supports that extend upwardly from the body engaging band and hold the bra in proper position. The particular cloth material from which the bra is made may vary in color and shape to create different design appeals.

The device is extremely simple in construction and when not worn may be collapsed into a fiat compact bundle so as to be readily transported. The device can be used in connection with bathing suits, sun or play suits, etc.

Other objects and advantages will appear in (the following specication, and the novel features of the device will be .particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

Figure 1 is a front perspective View of the bra showing it applied to the wearer;

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the bra illustrating how the back of the wearer is entirely exposed;

Figure 3 isa front elevation of the -bra with the yielding band lying in a at plane;

Figure 4 is an enlarged section taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical enlarged transverse section taken along the line V-V of Figure 3; and

Figure 6 is a plan view of the yielding band showing its general contour.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it should be understood that various changes or modications may be made within the scopeof the appended claim without departing from/the spirit and scope of the invention.

In carrying 4ut my invention, I provide a yielding band ofthe shape indicated generally at A in Figure 6. Theband has a front portion I and arcuate side portions 2 and 3. Figure 5sshows the band AV enclosed in a fabric casing B. The casing B is coextensive with the length of the band as shown in Figure 3 and the ends of the casing may be closed by stitching 4 and 5 for entirely enclosing the band. The yielding band may be made of plastic or metal or other flexible material that will bend to hold the shape into which it is bent and then have suiiicient elasticity to grip the body when placed on it.

The casing B is U-shaped in cross section and the front and back walls 6 and I have their upper edges folded back on themselves to form hems 8 and 9 that are stitched at III and enclose the lower edge of a fabric portion C of the bra. The fabric` C is preferably of two layers II and I2 and it may be of any shape desired. In Figure 3 I show the fabric extending from the ends of the casing B and the upper edge is curved as indicated at I3 and I4 to cover the top of each breast. The central portion of the fabric may have a plurality of horizontal gathers as shown by the lines I5 to give a concave curve I6 to the central portion of the upper edge. Vertical rows of stitching I'I at the center of the fabric C will hold the gathered portions I5 in place. I do not wish to be conned to any particular design effect for the bra because the bra can be shaped in various ways.

A flexible strap or ribbon I8 is stitched to the top of the fabric C at I9 and the lower portion of the strap extends through a triangular-shaped opening 20. The free ends of the strap I8 may be brought together in iront of the bra :and tied to form a bow 2l, see Figure 1, so as to create a design appeal. The strap I8 forms no vital part of my invention and may be dispensed with if desired.

The fabric C may have sucient rigidity or the shaping of the fabric may be such as t0 hold it in place on the breast without any more support than that afforded by the yielding band A. I add auxiliary supports in the shape of short stays D that may be made of whalebone or a flexible material. The stays D are placed in pockets 22 formed by stitching 23 as shown in Figures 3 and 4. The stays D are inclined upwardly and out- Wardly at a slight angle so as to give support to thetop of the fabric C adjacent to the curved edges I3 and I4. I have found that the bra is the band A terminate substantially underv the shoulder blades, thus leaving the entire. backv exposed to the rays of the sun. The' stays D give sucient vertical support tothe fabric 'e 4 I claim: A backless strapless bra, comprising a yielding preshaped arcuate band adapted to be positioned across the front of the Wearers body just under the breasts, the band having suiflcent length to extend around the sides of the body and terminate substantially under the shoulder blades at so that no neck or shoulder strap is necessary.

The yielding band A will hold the bra firmly i place Without discomfort.

A bathing suit may `have its upper portion provided Wth the yielding bands() that the top l0f the suit will be supported without the need of neck, shoulder or back straps. It is possible to have the top of the bravsupported'by a yielding band similar to the band A and have 'this4 engage with the body to support-the'bra top, It -is possibleY t6 have the vends of the band A `project slightly beyond the ends of the easing EB to give a more 'secure support vfor the bra.

the back of the body, a breast covering fabric supported by the band and exposing the Wearers neck, shoulders, midriff and substantially all of the back, the band having sucient resiliency to stay clamped to the body to support itself against accidentally slipping along the body and having Y sufficient clamping force to support the fabric in a breast-covering position. v

Y MAURICE LOBEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED surge PATENTS .Y 

